


Enrapture

by Dirade



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Butterflies, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 03:18:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5896099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirade/pseuds/Dirade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren notices for the first time when they are outside the walls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enrapture

**Author's Note:**

> Told in a series of snapshots. Enjoy ~ <3

Eren noticed for the first time when they were outside the walls.   
They were at HQ and Eren was hanging a load of laundry in the early dawn light, hair pulled back by a white cloth bandanna.   
Spring had just started to return, small flowers blooming in the fields and green leaves breathing life back into the formerly bare trees. The sun was warm on Eren's back, casting a golden glow upon the scene that reminded him of the stories Armin used to tell. Perhaps this was the world he'd been talking about. It made Eren smile softly, taking a moment to enjoy the serene tranquility.   
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a lone figure walk outside, pausing just aside the door. It was Levi, his face set in its characteristically tight expression. Eren immediately proceeded with his work, fearing retribution for slacking off.   
But nothing happened, and after a few more minutes Eren let himself relax again, his body creating a rhythm as he bounced from basket to line, clothes in hand.   
He saw Levi move, then, a mere flicker of movement at the corner of his vision. Subtly, he glanced over at the other man, sliding his eyes over while keeping his body angled away so he didn't look suspicious.   
It matter though, as it became clear Levi wasn't looking at him. His eyes seemed to be focused on nothing, his body still except for the occasional twitch, like he was mirroring some invisible object's movement.  
Eren momentarily left his work unattended as he studied Levi curiously. As he watched the corporal took a step forward, then another. He stopped, his arms hovering at his sides and fingers splayed. He lowered his body, bending his knees, eyes still focused with unwavering intensity on some distant point.   
Eren still didn't see anything out of the norm. He took a step forward, hoping to glimpse whatever it was that had captured Levi's attention so completely.   
He walked straight into the basket of clothes that he'd been hanging, letting out a squeak as he fell forward, pinwheeling his arms to keep himself standing.   
Levi whirled to look at him, steel eyes narrowed. For a moment, Eren contemplated running away. Instead, he wisely chose to apologize. "S-sorry, sir. I, um, I didn't mean to-" He cut himself off at Levi's dark scowl.   
He waited for the anger, the reprimand. But when Levi was silent he chanced a glance upward, only to see Levi looking away, cheeks stained pink.   
Was the corporal... blushing?  
Before Eren could ask anything more Levi stalked back inside, disappearing from view.   
Eren watched him leave, then looked to where Levi's distant gaze had been focused. There was still nothing there but sunlight and fluttering insects.  
♦  
The second time Eren noticed they were at the main survey corps headquarters and it was his turn refill the horses' food and water.   
Just as he poured the last bucket of water into the trough he glimpsed a flash of movement in his peripherals, something vaguely human-shaped darting through the field.   
He placed the pail down gently, creeping toward the open end of the stables that led into the field. It took him a moment to find the source of the original disturbance, but soon enough he spotted none other than Levi, his uniform covered in the most uncharacteristic grass stains.   
The corporal was crouched low to the ground, still as a statue. Eren watched curiously, wondering what he could possibly be doing. After a moment Eren thought that corporal wasn't doing anything at all, just standing there staring at the ground, but just as Eren was about to turn away Levi leapt, pouncing on some unseen thing in the grass.   
Eren stretched on to his toes to see what was going on, trying to spot a rabbit or fox: some prey that the corps could use as rations, but there was nothing there. At least, not anything Eren could see.   
But the corporal seemed to have caught whatever it was because his hands were cupped together, the way a child might catch a frog or firefly.   
Whatever was in his grasp was small, small enough to be completely concealed within Levi's two hands.   
Briefly Eren debated going to over to see what the corporal had caught, but the thought was erased from his mind when Levi opened his hands, holding his palms up to the sky. Eren was so distracted by the smile (the smile!) on the normally stoic corporal's face that he forgot to watch whatever it was that was set free from Levi's grip, and when he looked up all signs of whatever creature it had been were gone, vanished in the vast expanse of sky and dim dusk light.   
♦  
The third time, Eren was actually having a conversation with the corporal, something about training exercises and a move he'd seen on the 3DMG - it wasn't particularly important. But as Eren spoke to him Levi's attention started stray, and, although it hardly seemed possible, he appeared even more bored than usual.   
But then his face brightened in interest, his gaze focused on some point over Eren's shoulder. His gaze sharpened and his eyes narrowed and he went very, very still, like some petrified, predatory deity.   
Without warning he lunged forward, his right hand snapping closed in the air next to Eren's skull. Eren jumped, but stayed where he was, watching without comment as Levi brought his hand to his own chest and slowly peeled his fingers open. Inside his hand was a tiny, motionless butterfly, thin wings bent unnaturally and its dust smeared across Levi's palm.   
Eren felt himself smile a bit, suddenly full out grinning at the corporal. Sure, the butterfly had died, but he'd caught a butterfly! Eren, in his clumsy toddler years, had never been able to do so, lucky if he could catch a snail slipping along the ground. To Eren, this was a show of reflexes and dexterity.   
But when he looked up at Levi, the praise died on his lips, his smile withering.   
Levi looked upset, as upset as Eren had ever seen him, and he almost looked like he was going to... cry? He could swear there was a glassy film of tears covering the corporal's steely eyes.   
"I... I killed it..." Levi mumbled, voice with the slightest tremor and certainly lacking its usual harsh edge.   
Eren opened his mouth but he didn't know what to say. He felt the overwhelming need to comfort his superior, as if he were some child whose happiness had to be preserved at all costs.   
"No, no, it's okay! Uh, we can... um..." Eren started. Levi frowned at him, finally tearing his gaze away from the butterfly. "We can bury it! If - if you want. We can give it a funeral."   
Levi looked at the butterfly in his hands, then back at Eren.   
"Okay..." he said quietly, letting Eren take his free hand and drag him to the middle of the field, where the sun illuminated lush, green grass and a patch a pink, purple, and yellow flowers.   
"This is a good spot, right?" Eren asked, trying to keep his voice cheery to counter Levi's somber expression. The older man just nodded, kneeling down in the grass and clearing a section of soil, starting to dig a small hole.   
Honestly, Eren was surprised. The germaphobic corporal wasn't even wearing gloves and yet here he was, getting his hands dirty for a butterfly of all things.   
But the soldier kept quiet and just gathered some flowers, returning to Levi when he had a decent bouquet of them.   
Levi nodded at him when he brought the flowers over, gently placing the butterfly in the grave. He picked a few petals off the blooms and dropped them in as well, carefully sprinkling them around the delicate creature.   
He didn't bury it immediately, just sitting there and staring at it for a while, clutching the remaining flowers close to his chest.   
Eren knelt down next to him after a moment, folding his hands and looking on awkwardly.   
Then, in a whisper so light Eren almost missed it, Levi said: "I'm sorry."   
Before Eren could stop himself, he was speaking. "It - it's really not your fault. I mean, it's not like the butterfly was going to live that long anyway and it's just the natural circle of life so you shouldn't feel bad..."   
Levi wiped at his eyes, sniffling. Eren felt like his heart break a little. "Really?" Levi murmured, still looking at the butterfly.   
Eren wasn't sure exactly what part of his bumbling speech he was referring to, but he vigorously said yes anyway. "Yeah, yes! They only live for like a week." He forced a smile.   
"Okay. Good." Levi said quietly, beginning to scoop the dirt back into the hole.   
When it was filled he placed the bouquet on top, staring down at it.   
"Oh!" Eren exclaimed, rummaging through his pockets. He knew he had a stone in here somewhere... He'd found a flat one and decided it would be good for skipping on the lake (he was in an intense rivalry with Jean for how many skips they could get). "Here." He handed the rock to Levi. Levi looked at him quizzically, taking the rock and staring at it listlessly. "Gravestone." Eren offered helpfully.   
Levi's mouth opened in an "oh" expression, then he pulled a marker (why did he even have a marker anyway?) from his pocket and wrote "Butterfly" on the stone in neat, concise handwriting. Then he placed it on the grave, tucking the marker back into his pocket.   
Levi didn't move after that so Eren just stayed where he was too, unsure what to do.   
Then Levi just... well, he just fell sideways, leaning heavily against Eren. Eren stiffened, but relaxed after a moment, mimicking Levi in the way he just stared at the grave in silence, paying his respects.   
"He's in butterfly heaven now." Eren whispered, just because it felt like the right thing to do.   
"I'm glad." Levi replied.  
And they sat there, in the middle of a field with sunlight on their backs and a butterfly who had gotten the nicest grave a butterfly had ever gotten.   
♦  
"Why?"  
Levi turned to Eren, a bored expression on his face. They were in the courtyard cleaning while all the other corps members slept. It wasn't late, per say, just about dusk. Well, Levi was cleaning, anyway. Eren was watching.   
"Why what?" The corporal asked tersely.   
"Why are you so interested in butterflies?"   
For a second Eren though Levi was going to up and walk away, but instead he stepped closer, leaning on the broom he was holding. His gaze rested off to the side of Eren, the moon making his irises a strange, glowing white.   
"You know I used to live in the Underground, right?"  
Eren nodded. He'd heard rumors in training camp and even while he was in the corps.   
"Well, I didn't really see things like that when I was little. A butterfly... Nothing that fragile could survive in the Underground, and it wasn't like there were flowers for it. I never saw the sky, the sun. I dunno." Levi gaze flickered to Eren, then away again. "I guess it just... interested me. I'd never seen one before. That's all, really."   
Eren hopped off the rock he was sitting on, bounding up to Levi and wrapping him in a hug. "Well, you're here now."  
Levi smiled, the strangest thing on the corporal's face. "Yeah, I am."

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write fluff.


End file.
